Parker 6th, Duncan 7th in MVP voting

Long-time Spurs stalwarts Tony Parker and Tim Duncan finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in this year’s Most Valuable Player voting, the NBA announced Sunday.

It was Duncan’s highest finish since he placed seventh in 2007-08. Parker slipped a spot from last season, when he finished fifth. They are the first set of teammates to finish in the top seven since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade with Miami in 2010-11, and only the second in the past nine seasons.

Parker had been headed for a likely top five finish before an ankle sprain marred his stretch run. He still averaged 20.3 and 7.6 assists with a 23.0 Player Efficiency Rating. All three figures were the second-best of his career.

Duncan enjoyed one of his finest seasons in years, averaging 17.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks with a 24.4 PER. His blocked shot and defensive rebound percentages were career highs.

James won in a landslide, earning 120 of a possible 121 first-place votes. He matched Bill Russell as the only player to win the award for the fourth time in five seasons. He joins Russell (five), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five) and Wilt Chamberlain (four) as the only players in NBA history with at least four MVPs.

James was the only player in the NBA this season to lead his team in scoring (26.8 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg) and assists (7.3 apg). He shot a career-high from the field (.565) and from three-point range (.406).

He was also the first player to win all five Player of the Month awards in a single season as the Heat won 66 games, including 27 in a row for the second-longest streak in NBA history.